There is no major international tournament in the offseason, but those who need a fix of football this summer can turn to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. This isn’t a new tournament – in fact it’s the 21st edition of the competition, but it’s expanded significantly this year.
The previous edition, held in Saudi Arabia back in 2023, featured just seven teams. This year, there will be 32 sides taking part in an event that runs from June 14th to July 13th.
There’s a lot to get through over the next few weeks, but we’re going to kick off with this game from Group D. On Monday evening (8pm BST), Chelsea take on MLS franchise Los Angeles FC in a tie set for the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta. Read on for our CFC vs LAFC preview with betting tips and odds guide.
The best UK bookies are suggesting a comfortable 90 minutes for Chelsea here. The Blues go into Monday’s clash as clear favourites, with best industry odds of 4/11 available for the West London side. The draw is the next listed option at a top price of 9/2, while a win for LAFC is out at 8/1.
Followers of the English Premier League will know all about Chelsea’s season. It was an inconsistent campaign at times, but Enzo Maresca’s side eventually finished in a creditable fourth place, while winning the Europa Conference League trophy.
Los Angeles FC are deep into their MLS campaign. The team currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference after picking up seven wins from 16 games. The franchise that won the 2022 MLS Cup with Gareth Bale on the roster now fields two French World Cup winners in Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud.
Chelsea should be looking to convert at that 4/11 price, but before we call the game, let’s see if there are more tempting options among the side bets.
It’s all Chelsea at the top of the first goalscorer market. Cole Palmer starts as favourite at 7/2, while new signing Liam Delap follows at 9/2. Nicolas Jackson is also quoted at 9/2, while Noni Madueke returns from England duty to slot in at 6/1.
Olivier Giroud carries the shortest odds for LAFC backers at 12/1. He may be France’s all-time leading scorer but he’s struggled in MLS. Giroud has just five goals in his first 34 matches for the American side.
Anyone looking for options beyond the main front players could consider Chelsea’s Reece James at 16/1. Everyone’s still talking about his free kick goal for England against Latvia, so he may be a threat from set pieces.
For LAFC, Jeremy Ebobisse has three league goals in his first eight games for the club and he is quoted at 14/1.
Away from player betting, Both Teams to Score is on offer for Monday’s game at a best of 10/11. This is a game where BTTS is seen as a 50/50 call by the bookies, and if you want to take the ‘no’ option, you can claim those same best odds of 10/11.
In the Total Combined Goals markets, a stake Over the 2.5 goal line attracts odds of just 1/2 but we can push that to Over 3.5 for a figure of 6/5. Anyone expecting a quiet 90 minutes in Atlanta can claim 13/10 to bet Under the 2.5 line.
That leaves us with some Correct Score options, and if you’re fully behind Chelsea here, a 3-1 win for Enzo Maresca’s side could be the bet at 10/1. A 1-0 victory for LAFC is listed at 22/1, while the 1-1 draw can be found at 8/1.
Our CFC vs LAFC Betting Tips Verdict For This Preview
It’s difficult to know how some of the big European sides will approach the Club World Cup. While there is a trophy up for grabs, it has been a long season for the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and others, and many players may have their minds on a break.
If you want an example of lacklustre end-of-season contests, just look at the England national side and their woeful displays against Andorra and Senegal. If Chelsea produce a similar performance, Los Angeles could well escape with a positive result on Monday.
We suspect that early group games will be cagey, like any major tournament. A draw could be a plausible outcome, but we’re not confident enough to get behind it. Both Teams not to Score is another option, but those 10/11 odds are not interesting enough.
Instead, we’ll settle on Under 2.5 goals, which looks reasonably generous at 13/10. The MLS standings show that Los Angeles’s defence isn’t the best, but a subdued Chelsea performance can lead to a low scoring affair in this tie. So for the betting tips, we’ll side with this one:
- Under 2.5 Goals at best odds of 8/5 with AK Bets.
Matt Harris is a football & golf writer for Just Bookies. Other sports in his portfolio of specialities include cricket. Matt has contributed to innumerable large organisations and media brands. These include: Betfair, BetVictor, USA Betting & Unibet. 